Casca
Casca (キャスカ Kyasuka) is the female protagonist of the series, and was the only female member in the Band of the Hawk. Appearance Casca is introduced as a beautiful, short-height, slender woman with dark skin, brown eyes and short black hair. She normally wore armor and appeared boyish at first glimpse. After the eclipse and as of the Convinction arc, besides the Brand of Sacrifice on the left side of her chest, Casca now has shoulder length hair and wears brown robes. Following the events of the Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc, Casca gained a Silver Surcoat that she wears under her robes. Personality Before the Eclipse, Casca was stoic and hardened woman who was immensely loyal to Griffith. Such was her dedication that it was no secret that she would willingly give her own life for Griffith (as she loves him). But Casca's cold demeanor masks her own inner personal demons resultant of her traumatic childhood and the challenges faced to her because of her womanhood. She was initially hard on Guts, the only one among the Hawks that Griffith trusts more than her. Casca was constantly bickering and fighting him but when Guts protected her from Adon and his men taking multiple arrow and a stab wound for her a result, she began harbouring feelings for Guts that she couldn't express to him. When Guts left the Band of Hawk she realised she was in love with him and began calling out his name in her sleep. Casca is shy and embarrassed easily whether it be wearing a dress (though Guts thought she looked beautiful) or having her period during a battle, hiding it caused her to faint and heated argument with Guts later. Though she is cold to those she is unfamiliar with, Casca has a caring side to her shown occasionally with Griffith (and few other Hawk members) but most notably shown with Guts. When they were making love Guts remembered his traumatic past and almost strangled her, Guts let go horrified with himself and told Casca about killing Gambino, Casca forgive him easily and consoled him saying they had both shown their "weak spots" to each other and slept together once more. But following the Eclipse, from watching her allies slaughtered to being violated by Griffith, the ordeal she suffered destroys Casca's sanity as she mentally regressed to a child and unable to speak, she easily distracted by shiny objects or creatures (such as Puck). While normally mild and in her little world. Casca has strong maternal instinct seen with Moonlight boy who she cradled in her arms, when the boy climbed on Guts's shoulders Casca feared for his safety and tried to pull him off Guts casing the boy to almost fall on Guts' throwing knifes. Luckily Guts and Casca caught him (huddling together like a family) then Casca pulled the boy way from Guts. Casca has developed a bond with Farnese delighting in her presence as her carer, due to this bond Guts will seek Farnese out when Casca is not compliant. Casca still shows some signs of intelligence as she shushed Manifico when he was panicking while they were hiding. Casca will understand when she's done something wrong, like when Farnese yelled at Casca for splashing hot water on her (and not understanding Guts' pain) Casca punished her self by pouring hot water on herself until Farnese stopped her. Casca can suffer violent flashbacks to the Eclipse that causes to have violent fits whenever any man but Guts approaches her. Casca seems only two recognise two men from her past. Guts as a protector as she will hug onto him and call to him when he leaves her, but when Guts almost strangled her when he possessed she grew to fear and dislike him keeping her distance from him and preferring Farnese company. In time she began to trusts Guts again as she watches his fights anxiously and will be playful with him like when she was climbing around the ship and Guts wanted her to come down. The other man Casca recognises is Griffith upon seeing him she touched his face and then fell down crying (either because her Brand was hurting or she is full memories of him tormenting her). History Past As a young lowborn girl, Casca considered hardships such as starvation and abduction to be a normal fact of peasant life. But at age twelve, Casca suddenly finds herself fighting back against a noble to maintain her virginity when Griffith came to her aid and offers her a sword that she uses to personally kill the noble. From that moment on, Casca joined the Band of Hawks to become stronger though still haunted by her past. Golden Age Arc Years later, Casca confronts Guts when he attacks an ambush party lead by Corkus and the two battled until Griffith intervened when she was knocked off her horse with Guts only realizing he was fighting a woman. Casca is ordered by Griffith to sleep with the mortally wounded and unconscious Guts for two days to keep him warm, later punching Guts in the stomach once he comes to. Though Casca kept those among the Hawks from killing Guts after Griffith made him join their company, she showed no respect towards the swordsman. It were later be revealed that Casca felt threatened that she is being replaced by Guts as Griffith's most trusted subordinate, made worst when Griffith had romantic desires for the Midland princess Charlotte. But during the last days of the One Hundred Year War, Casca and Guts start to harbor feelings for each other with the former utterly conflicted when the latter leaves the Hawks. This results with Griffith's downward spiral that forces Casca to take leadership of the Hawks when they are labeled outlaws by the King of Midland after he arrested their leader. A year later, still embittered with Guts for causing the chain of events that destroyed Griffith despite coming to help free their ally, she takes him away from the rest of the Hawks to vent her rage on him in a brief swordfight and suicide attempt. But when Guts saves her from taking her life, Casca and the swordsman are to reconcile and come to acknowledge their relationship as more than comrades. The two proceed to make love that night before they and the others proceed with saving Griffith, only for Casca to attempt to convince Guts to leave her as she resolved to take care of Griffith's after they learn he has been damaged by the tortured to survive on own. But when Griffith invoked the Eclipse, Casca watches Pippin and Judeau die protecting her before the Apostles grab her and proceed to strip her of her clothing to have their way with her. But the Apostles are stopped by Griffith after his transcending into the last of the God Hand is complete and, knowing Guts loves her, proceed to sexually violate the half-conscious Casca in front of Guts. Following the Eclipse, Guts learns of the damage the event caused on Casca's mind and she gave birth to a fetal creature that was their biological child altered by Griffith's essence. As the Elven cave near the blacksmith's house can protect her from the restless spirits and other fell things, Guts decides to leave Casca with Godo as he leaves to hunt the Apostles and find the God Hand. Conviction Arc Two years after Guts left her in the care of the Godo, Casca walked off by chance and ended up in the company of a harlot named Luca. Because of Casca's mindset, calling her "Elaine", Luca wrapped bandages over her to appear as a leper to protect her from lust-driven men as they make their way to St. Albion. But only a day after coming to the city, her presence causing the restless spirits of the starved to stir, Casca's cover is blown as the cult dedicated to the Goddess of the Flame believe her to be a witch and conduct a ritual to marry her to the Great Goat Head. Casca is saved by Guts, who had a vision of her burned at the stake, but she is taken to the Tower of Conviction where she presence fully awakens the spirits of those who died of torture within its bloodstained walls as form a blood blob to consume the living. Only Casca survives the blob's engulfing due to the Demon Child using the last of its strength to protect its mother. Believing her death will cease the spirits' attack inside and outside the city, Mozgus attempts to have her burned at the stake before Guts saves her. This act allows the Incarnation Ceremony to run its course, Casca is taken away from the ruins of St. Albion by Guts in the aftermath. Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc Fantasia Arc Abilities Casca is highly skilled Swordswoman, she wields a short broadsword which she can use to kill multiple attackers with relative ease. Casca lacks strength and can be overpowered but she makes up for it with her speed, her technique is jumping around her opponents and find an opening to strike, this is how she was able to kill Adon. Casca is able to keep up with Guts in combat and dodge Silat's attacks, and during the Eclipse she killed a few demons before being overwhelmed. After the Eclipse Casca's abilities take a serious decrease and she is needed to be looked after by Guts and Farnese but the old Casca is not completely gone. Casca has a great deal of her skill left seen when three scavenges tried to rape her, the attack on her triggered memories of the Eclipse and she killed all three of them instantly, shocking Guts when he found her naked clutching a sword by the bodies of the men. Trivia *Her name means "shell" in Portuguese, possibly referencing her status as a hollow shell of her former self later on in the story. *Casca is considered by many fans of Berserk to be the most beautiful woman in the series. *Casca's skin tone changes frequently in the anime adaptations. In the manga, she has a creamy brown skin, but in the 90's anime of Berserk, she has a much darker skin tone, while in the 2012 movies her skin is far lighter making her appearing white in dark environments. *Casca bears a resemblance and similarities to Shisu, both are women driven insane and doting mothers seen with Shisu and Guts and Casca with the Demon Child (and Moonlight Boy). *There's a twisted irony in the fact that Griffith saved her from losing her virginity to Nobleman (earning her trust and love) only to betray and rape her during the Eclipse. There's more irony considering Casca started off attempting to kill Guts and hated him at the start of the series, only then to fall in love with him and wanting to bear his child. *Casca bears many similarities to her lover Guts, Casca (until after the Eclipse) has short, black hair like Guts, both wield their swords two handed, both of them were betrayed by their parents and sold to a sex offender (Guts to Donovan, Casca to a Nobleman). Both Casca and Guts killed the men who sexually assaulted them. Casca is a strong warrior like Guts (though she doesn't enjoy fighting as much as him), both of them have received numerous battle wounds and both of them were cruelly betrayed by Griffith (whom they trusted dearly). Casca and Guts were both given the Brand of Sacrifice and both were deeply affected by the events: Casca being violated and her baby corrupted (causing her to go insane), Guts lost his right eye and left forearm and had sanity decreased too (though not to Casca's level). *Casca was the first female warrior shown in the series. *Disturbingly Casca has had more sexual assaults on her than any other female in the series (though Griffith was the only villain who succeeded in raping her). In fact Guts is the only consensual relationship she ever had. de:Kiasca cs:Casca Category:Humans Category:Female Category:Nobles Category:Mercenaries Category:Swordsmen Category:Band of the Hawk Category:Guts' New Party Category:Branded characters